Of Children and Soldiers
by Kyd Chyme
Summary: The government didn't approve of young heroes -not like the Justice League ever bothered to clear it with them. To appease tensions, the League has agreed to allow sanctioned interviews and an investigation looking into the kids' well-being.
1. Welcome to the Hall of Justice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice or any of its characters.

**Of Children and Soldiers**

**9:10 AM **

**Location: Hall of Justice**

"Stacey Starkweather here at the Hall of Justice where I'll be getting exclusives with the young heroes who have been officially recognized by the Justice League of America. Follow us over the next few days as we enter a world of heroic adventures and get insider information about the workings of the Justice League!" Stacey cocked her head once to allow her shining black hair to catch on to the wind breezing by and flashed a Crest white smile.

"…And we're good." Stan twisted his baseball cap back around so it sat front and center on his gingery hair and peeked out from behind the camera.

"That sounded like a bad tabloid," Stacey cringed.

Stan shook his head, small blue eyes locked on the Hall of Justice entrance behind Stacey. "It was good." He said, "Attention grabbing."

"What?" Stacey whipped out a purple rhinestoned compact and flipped open the small mirror to inspect her face for flaws. "About the kids?" She couldn't find any, but settled on a quick reapplication of lip stick anyway.

The kids were the whole point of all this –this government requested 'investigation' on the young heroes. Just a bunch of little kids being thrown into the big-bad-world of dangerous psychos. The Justice League chose to comply with the government's demand for access.

So here they were. Stacey Starkweather led the uninformative interview for the public eye, and some government type from the department of ChildSomethingOrOther was around for snoopy government files.

Camera time was camera time though.

"Sure." Stan shrugged, "People love them."

She smiled, her perfectly lined lips upturned in a little heart, "Love worrying about them you mean."

"Yeah, a lot of that too."

**All righty. So, that was very short, yes? Well, all the other chapters aren't. Consider this the introduction chapter. Everything else will play out in interview forms (mostly) with maybe some side snooping by Stacey. All from her, or her people's, point of view, not the Teams or anyone in the League. Third person, folks.**

**Feel free to drop off some feedback,**

**-KydChyme**


	2. Day 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice or any of its characters.

**Of Children and Soldiers**

**9:45 AM**

**Location: Hall of Justice**

**Day: 1**

**Subject: Robin **

Stacey's eyes were flashing with her green colored contacts and expertly applied mascara. She was trying clever and intelligent, but the boy in front of her was unnerving her with his knowing grins and deceivingly casual posture. It's like he was seeing through her act and found it all very, very amusing.

It didn't help that he looked like he's eleven, which means no flirting. And flirting was how Stacey Starkweather gained control of her interviews. She _knows_ how to get a man flustered.

Somehow she doubted the general public would approve of batting her lashes at a boy who barely came up to her shoulder.

"So Robin, do you find it difficult to balance your education with your hero work?" She put on her most serious, concerned face, "Do you find that it takes away from your childhood?" They'd been at this a little while now, warming into the conversation with questions about favorite academic subjects and asking if he followed the Gotham Goliaths baseball season.

Robin shrugged, "Sure. I mean it's a lot of responsibility, but I manage." He cocked his head enough where Stacey could just make out the tip of a whitish scar running down the side of his neck. She eyed it for a moment and filed it away for later. "I wouldn't be allowed to run around otherwise."

"I see." She averted her eyes from his neck and brought them up to his face, "Right. How old are you again?"

Now he smiled in guanine, like it was all a silly game. Maybe for him it was. "…Young enough that I still have a hope of one day being physically able to look Batman in the nose." All of this.

"Eye." She corrected.

"What?"

Stacey smiled sweetly, and gave a slightly patronizing tone, "The phrase is _look him in the eye_." No little kid was going to play her. She could be serious. She could get a _story_ out of this –a career maker, not just some dumb stunt for the public eye. She could be _important._

The boy snorted, "Have you _seen_ how tall he is? I'm optimistic, not delusional."

Stacey frowned.

**10:36 AM**

**Location: Hall of Justice**

**Day: 1**

**Subject: Kid Flash **

The Kid's hair was an alarming shade of reddish-orange, easily the most vibrant shade of hair color she'd ever seen. The kind of color that got you teased in school. "So, how has super heroing affected your family life?" Stacey wondered if Flash had red hair too. There were a lot of rumors that they two were father and son, which was very likely, just like the rumors about Batman and Robin, among other, less family friendly theories…

"It really hasn't." Stacey watched his eyes and wondered if he was lying. He really had no reason to; this whole segment had to be League approved before shipping out to the general public anyway, so nothing important would get out. It's not like _she _was a threat.

Stacey leaned forwards a bit and watched with a satisfying gleam as the boy's eyes struggled not to dip towards her suddenly very present cleavage. "Did it ever cause a lot of conflict at home?"

His eyes snapped up and immediately he blurted, "Not anymore."

"Really?" Stacey popped out her bottom lip, "What changed?" This boy –almost a man, really– was something she understood better. "Did your time playing at hero work destroy your relationship with your parents _that much?_ Can you even justify it after that?"

Kid Flash's eyes narrowed and his jaw snapped shut with an audible snap.

"Hey now, who's 'playing'? This is serious work. I mean –we do good, you know? And my superhero stuff didn't destroy anything. Sometimes life just isn't perfect. Sometimes it can get bad." He paused, "Or dangerous."

"You didn't really answer my question." She said pointedly.

He smiled slowly, "Tell me, Miss Starkweather, has your reporting job completely ruined your romantic life and given you a reputation you just _can't shake off_?"

"This isn't about me, and that's perso…" She trailed off as Kid Flash leaned back into the cushion. She didn't like the way this one smiled either.

**11:30 AM**

**Location: Hall of Justice**

**Day: 1**

**Subject: Artemis**

"You seem nervous." Stacey commented with a smile, "Don't be."

The girl sitting across from her folded her muscular arms over her chest and raised a single blonde brow. "'Irritated' is the word you are looking for." Her voice came out in a distinctively rough tone. It was unusual. Interesting, even. Stacey didn't like that much at all.

Of course, maybe that was because Stacey Starkweather found that she didn't like _Artemis_.

"I see." She leaned forwards a bit, aggressive for aggression. "Do you think your negative outlook might encourage the young girls who look up to you to become rebellious and isolated?" She folded her hands in her lap and sat stock straight, "Some would argue that as role models to young people, it's young heroes duties to encourage positive actions and good decision making."

Artemis blinked with the first gift of an expression that didn't scream of hostility, "Look up to _me?_ Since when am I a _role model?"_

Stacey tried not to grim. Artemis looked almost panicked now. She could do this. She was in _control_. "I imagine ever since you put on the mask and started crime fighting. Do you have an answer to the question?"

"Yeah." Artemis seemed to have gained some composure, "Most of us are here _because we didn't listen _to someone who told us, 'no'."

Stacey shifted and pursed her lips, "Well, yes, but never giving up is –"

"I didn't mean it _that_ way. I mean we're here because we broke rules, laws, and heads. We did –do– things that other teenagers can't or won't do."

"I see. You make it sound like you're the villains."

"Some believed Batman wasn't the good guy when he first appeared on the scene. Sometimes the line is clear, sometimes not."

Stacey was taken aback, "Do you believe you're heroes then?"

"Yeah. Yeah. We're heroes. I signed up for this and I'm going to see it through."

"That seems very admirable."

Artemis stood quietly, tall and strong and looked her in the eye. The gaze was uncomfortable. "But you're questions aren't."

And she walked away.

**So maybe it wasn't THAT long, but I figure these will go three interviews for the sets, some of her meandering, and then out government type's deal as well.**

**Feel free to drop off some feedback. 'Cause I love it.**

**-KydChyme**


	3. Day 2

**I do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters. At all. **

**Of Children and Soldiers**

**10:10 AM**

**Location: Hall of Justice**

**Day: 2**

**Subject: Kid Flash**

Stacey watched in a sort of detached fascination as Kid Flash shoved another bagel half into his mouth. The kid ate like he wouldn't see food for _days_. It was absolutely disgusting. "Artemis mentioned some of you fell into this life by being… disobedient. Care to elaborate?"

He swallowed, "How about 'reckless' instead?"

"Reckless?" Stacey leaned forwards just enough for the camera to really catch the lighting on her high cheek bones, but not quite enough to let her hair fall into her face, "How so?"

He seemed to hesitate for a moment. Stacey Starkweather didn't like that.

"Do I need to remind you that the League promised there would be total honesty here?"

The boy froze, sitting completely still for the first time she could recall in her time with him, "Do I need to remind _you _that anything up for security risk can be withheld?"

He took another bite. Stacey waited.

"Well," He sat back and threw a single leg over the arm of the couch, not seeming to really think about what he was doing, "I managed to blow up a lab and nearly kill myself. That caught Flash's attention pretty quick. A few months after recovery and a lot of pestering, and I was in."

"Interesting." Stacey raised a brow, "Do you often 'blow things up' in your free time?"

He smiled, cute freckles dancing across his face in a very boyish way, "I can see why Artemis didn't seem to enjoy talking to you."

She frowned. She hadn't liked interviewing Artemis either.

Kid Flash scrunched up a little more and continued on like he hadn't said anything, "Well, Flash's kitchen, _once_. But that was partly _his_ fault anyway. And a _couple_ of fires here and there. Sometimes Robin and me go a little crazy too. _Really._"

Stacey's face brightened considerably, "Would you say this is a psychological issue from the stress of superhero work at such a young age?"

Kid Flash chocked a little on the bread abd gave her the look Stan gives her whenever she misses something obvious. "Psycho what? Waaiit. No, you got this all wrong." He coughed once, "That was a joke."

Stacey frowned. He gave her _the look _again.

"I'm a science kind of guy –it's a Flash thing –and sometimes accidents just happen. I _control_ my experiments; I'm not just going on an explosive rampage. And Flash is always nearby…"

"I see. You seem to mention Robin quite a bit during your interviews."

"I've known Robin a long time." He eased down again, took another bite, "He's my best friend."

She smiled, "Your '_best_ friend'?"

"Yeah," Kid Flash seemed to like this topic more, "I mean, it's been great having someone around to relate to, with the whole hero thing going on along with growing up…"

"Hmm. And how exactly would you describe the relationship between you and Robin?"

Kid Flash stopped dead again, this time his entire face turned bright red as he opened his mouth to speak. He shut it and opened it again, an odd look coming across his face and the irritated scrunch of his brows fading.

He sighed and looked dead into the camera, "Bromanic."

**10:43 AM**

**Location: Hall of Justice**

**Day: 2**

**Subject: Miss Martian**

Stacey had gone over the note cards hard on this one, "Do you care to comment on the obvious racial tensions on Mars between Green and Red Martians towards White Martians?"

The girl –the _alien_ smiled softly, "I guess it's just because they aren't like the others, physically, I mean. They're a minority."

She was pretty, in a naïve sort of way, nothing at all like Stacey's own sharp beauty. No, nothing at all.

Stacey sniffed, "What are your personal beliefs on the subject? Do you think the discrimination is justified?"

"No!" She blushed a little. Stacey tried not to smile to big. "There is a lot of propaganda, and here on Earth, when it comes to White Martians, that's all you see. _White Martians are dangerously violent, not as powerful, not as intelligent…_ But it's just not true."

She knew she was coming off too hostile on this one, especially after the disaster that had been Artemis's interview, but she couldn't seem to help it. "It sounds awful personal to you." The girl _irritated_ her.

The smile came back in force, more confident and composed. "I was raised to treat everyone fairly, no matter what color they are. Weren't you?"

Stacey frowned, "Of course! My own race was a victim of segregation and false stereo types for years in this country." Stacey folded her arms. She was supposed to be asking the questions here.

"You know," the girl looked her dead in the eye, not hostile like Artemis, or annoyed like Kid Flash, but gently, "as long as you play the victim, you _make yourself one_. We have a word for that on Mars. The closest thing in English is, 'weakness'."

Stacey clinched her fist into a ball and kept a smile plastered to her face like it would need to be torn away to ever leave it.

**So tired… Feel free to leave some feed-back or advice or something.**

**-KydChyme**


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